#bryan russell

[fitsofgloom]

If My Heart Or Wallet Breaks

That's My Own Mistake To Make

[kwebtv]

Philip Abbott (back to camera), Bryan Russell, Warren Berlinger and Celeste Holm in “Kilroy”

[addictinginfo]

Oklahoma Ammosexual Shoots Woman's Dogs In Front Of Her Child, Killing One (GRAPHIC IMAGES)

Oklahoma Ammosexual Shoots Woman’s Dogs In Front Of Her Child, Killing One (GRAPHIC IMAGES)

An Oklahoma woman is seeking justice after an ammosexual neighbor took it upon himself to turn his gun on her dogs and pull the trigger. On Monday night, Hayley Booth Lamirand of Choctaw shared terrifying photos depicting her bloodied canine friend Charles Barkley lying on the carpet in obvious agony after she says a man hiding in some bushes opened fire on her pets in front of her child.…

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[avalonlandingmusic-blog]

A Collaborative & Creative Process

Josh and Mike have both posted here about pre production, and what the process means (both in general and to them specifically). It is sort of a non-specific term and one that most people outside of the music or entertainment industries don't hear too much. But as far as making a record goes, its a pretty simple idea.

Pre production is the process of preparing to turn a song into a recording.  This means that when someone writes a song, its simply chords, lyrics and melody. The process of pre production is to make all the little decisions about how to play those chords, on what instrument or instruments, in what rhythm and in what order. The details are endless, and the process can be very tedious, but the goal is always to create the best version of the song in the room with the musicians before beginning the process of actually recording anything.

For most bands, pre production is fairly stressful.  There are these songs that you've poured your creative energy into that are being scrutinized and changed -- and sometimes things you may be attached to get altered in some way. But the goal is always the same: keep an open mind, and don't get hung up on what you're attached to or what's comfortable. Always do what's best for the song because everyone involved is collaborating to reach the same goal. Fortunately for me, Avalon Landing is a very positive, thoughtful and open-minded band.  They are willing to try any idea (no matter how brilliant or ridiculous it may seem) and give it a fair shake. This is the best case scenario for a record and the songs will prove it when you hear them.

For me, there is something amazing about the collaborative creative process. The ideas that can be harvested from a group of people working together, and putting their egos aside is absolutely amazing.  This is not to say that from time to time a strong creative vision isn't necessary and important to see the song through -- it absolutely is. But the balance between the strength of and the writers faith in the core song, combined with open minded collaboration is hard to beat.

Today is the last day of pre production before we begin the tracking process tomorrow. I can't wait to get started, and I can't wait for all of you to hear these songs.

-Bryan

[risingsignals]

In his poignant guest post for The Rejectionist, Bryan Russell writes:

A possibility, again: Time is slipping away. Isn’t this what many of us fear? A year passes, and then another, and time seems greased and slippery and hard to grasp. We want to be a writer, we want people to see our words, our stories, and yet it hasn’t happened the way we wanted, the way we once thought it would. Where did the time go? Was it really two decades ago that I was wearing plaid and wondering how to make the holes I cut in my jeans look natural?

tick tick goes the clock, click click goes the writer’s camera–but perhaps it is helping a woman off the road that makes for a better writer.

Writing takes time. And that's ok.